1 Jenny Hval
Cheerily blurring the boundaries between pop and performance art, previous tours have found the Norwegian singer delivering her gothic electro atop a yoga ball while a cohort wrapped her in toilet paper. Crucially, the shenanigans enhance rather than overshadow the songs, which, on latest effort Blood Bitch – a concept album about menstruation and vampires – are sharper than ever.
Glasgow, 17 October; Manchester, 18 October; London, 19 October
2 Goat
Just as Goat’s psychedelic pagan schtick was in danger of wearing thin, the masked Swedes’ third album Requiem finds them paring down the clatter for something folkier, flutier and, in places, oddly tender. Live, their hypnotic rock ragas provide all the fun of a frolicsome hippy cult without having to surrender your worldly possessions.
Brighton, 17 October; London, 18 October; Bristol, 19 October; Glasgow, 20 October
3 Jagwar Ma
Like a live-band version of the Avalanches’ sampladelic frenzy, fellow Aussies Jagwar Ma offer egalitarian indie-dance grooves of the type rarely seen since the days of the Heavenly Social. Recent single Give Me A Reason is the jewel in their crown, effortlessly moving from fuzzy funk-rock to spaced-out deep house.
London, 15 October; Glasgow, 20 October; Manchester, 21 October; touring to 26 October
4 Craig David presents TS5
With his comeback album Following My Intuition going straight in at No 1 last week, Craig David is once again all over your boink. If you can’t make it to these shows to join the celebrations, tickets are already on sale for his March arena tour.
02 Academy Brixton, SW9, 20 October; Manchester Academy, 21 October
5 Fightback!
Manchester art-pop brainiacs Everything Everything headline this benefit for the Music Venue Trust, a charity set up to protect the UK’s smaller haunts. Other acts giving something back on the night include Public Service Broadcasting and Ed Harcourt.
